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kats-fic-recs · 3 months

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In Another Castle

Kenma feels his face go hot. People have to be looking at them. They’re having a fight in front of a real estate agency. But he doesn’t look away, and musters the courage to say, “Kuro, I want you to live with me.”

The Whole Of The Moon

Tetsurou has never thought about it before, but right now, he is absolutely and thoroughly terrified.

Because he’s so, so in love, and he’s always known that Kenma is it for him, but what if he’s not it for Kenma?

Or: a Kuroken soulmate AU in which both of them suffer and there's communication in all the wrong ways

Not For Nothing

Kuroo-san never says no to you,” Shouyou says

Not Your Mother's Hot Toddy

Kuroo always knew he would eventually end up killing someone for Kozume Kenma, he just thought he would have a lot more time to prepare.

Or: Kenma's hungry, Kuroo's bad at thinking on his feet, and Shouyo just wants to make friends in the city.

Live From the Lonely Hearts Club♡

(Kodzuken lets out a sigh that cuts so deep, it nearly startles his cat off his lap.)

I think I’m being obvious. I probably don’t need to spell it out for you guys. It’s clear as day, isn’t it? I’m fucking in love with my best friend. And I have been for a very long time.

So it pains me to say that I think I’ve made the stupidest mistake of my entire life. Because a week ago, T asked me if I wanted him to be my fake boyfriend.

(Kodzuken drags his hands over his face.)

And I’m pretty sure I said yes.

Kenma is so stupid. When did he become so stupid? He’d always thought he was kind of smart, but maybe he’s been stupid this entire time.

five snapped heartstrings

“From the day you are born, you have a countless number of strings wrapped around the ring finger on your right hand. These strings extend out to all of your potential soulmates. As you grow and make choices in life, one by one the strings will slowly begin to fall away until you’re left with one. At that point, your one true soulmate will be waiting for you on the other side.”

Kenma was seven, and he was certain of one thing. He wanted Kuroo Tetsurou to be his soulmate.

it's like a summer shower

Kenma’s breath catches at the memory, and then he’s blurting out, “Do you still have it?”

“Have what?”

“…the recipe,” Kenma replies haltingly. A pause. “And maybe some pictures for how it looked all set up.”

“Kenma…” his mother says breathlessly, and he’s honestly not sure if she sounds awed or horrified. “Are you going to attempt to make it?”

It's Kuroo's and Kenma's anniversary and Kenma wants to do something different - cook him dinner. He regrets the decision pretty much immediately.

crushed little stars

When Kenma was 13, he swore to himself that he would never, ever get star tear disease.

Three years later, he met Hinata Shouyou.

A purrfect match

"Hi Uncle Tettsun!” Nozomi says without moving an inch. “There's a kitty cat under here."

Tetsurou sighs, adjusting the heavy bag on his shoulder. There's been a dramatic increase in the number of cats hiding under homes or dumpsters or in trees lately, ever since the Kozume family's latest announcement. People have been chasing them down, knowing that whoever takes the key from the royal cat's collar will be allowed to marry the crown prince.

[Five times Tetsurou meets a cat, and one time he meets a human instead].

The Space Between Thinking and Feeling

“She might have assumed that we were dating and I might not have corrected her, yes.”

Kenma’s eyes are caught in a frenzy. Tetsurou isn’t sure why he’s that upset about this specific part of the story. “Why?” Is all Kenma asks.

Tetsurou shrugs. “I don’t know. She invited you to the wedding. I want you to come. It just seemed easy.”

“Dating me seems easy?”

“Pretend dating.”

(OR Tetsurou doesn’t want to go to his mother’s wedding alone. Good thing he has fake-boyfriend Kenma to tag along.)

Wallpaper Heart

Tetsurou walks into their apartment, aware of his feelings for the first time. It’s a weird sensation, like remodeling a house, and finding out there was a hidden door to an extra room behind the old yellowed wallpaper in the hallway. Now that he knows it’s there, he wonders how he ever missed it – wonders when the wallpaper went up in the first place, when it started keeping him out.

(OR Tetsurou's adventures in pining)

even if you're ahead for a bit, i will catch up

Kuroo first confesses when they're sticky-fingered, wide-eyed kids, and subsequently every day after that. Kenma takes a while to come around.

The Ghost Of The Future Is Awake In The Attic

Sika stags have a whole repertoire of courting behaviour that does not overlap with a human’s flirting one bit.

This, perhaps, should not come as a surprise to Tetsurou.

Or: The one where Kenma is a sika deer shifter, Kuroo isn’t, and Kuroo decides the logical thing to do is to court Kenma. The deer way. Despite the fact that he has no idea how deer shifter courting works.

When the Stars Threw Down Their Spears

"It’s hard to understand the hierarchy when a school like Nekoma exists, putting them all together like they belong, but by the time Kenma enters high school he understands the difference. Kuroo is a black panther, rare and precious; a large predator stronger than most any other foe.

Kenma is a calico housecat. His coloring is uncommon, but he is not special."

Shapeshifter!AU. Kenma struggles with a culture and the rules of courtship.

Ad Astra Per Aspera

The important parts of his life aren’t stored in the cement where he bled out, or among the familiar backdrops of his hometown. Home is curled up on a secondhand couch a few cities away, probably bitterly cursing his guts but still waiting for him to walk through the door.

The city has long since forgotten what happened to Kuroo Tetsurou.

…But Kenma didn’t. Kenma never would.

Kenma’s soul recognizes Kuroo Tetusrou even when his eye does not.

He’s been waiting an eternity for him, after all.

route 51 to your heart has been delayed by 20 minutes

The hottest man Kenma has ever seen shares the bus with him regularly. Under no circumstance is he ever going to do anything about it.

Not intentionally, at least.

Speak Easy, Lie Gently

Kenma’s invited back home to celebrate Christmas. Unbeknownst to him, his parents had invited a guest: his ex-boyfriend.

#kenma kuzome #kozume kenma #kuroken #kuroo tetsurou #kuroo testuro #haikyuu!! fic recs #haikyuu fic recs #haikyuu!!#haikyuu #kuroken fic #ao3 #fanfiction #fic recs #fanfiction recommendation #fic rec #reblog

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kats-fic-recs · 3 months

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My favorite Kuroken fics <3

In Another Castle

The Whole Of The Moon

Tetsurou has never thought about it before, but right now, he is absolutely and thoroughly terrified.

Because he’s so, so in love, and he’s always known that Kenma is it for him, but what if he’s not it for Kenma?

Or: a Kuroken soulmate AU in which both of them suffer and there's communication in all the wrong ways

Not For Nothing

Kuroo-san never says no to you,” Shouyou says

Not Your Mother's Hot Toddy

Kuroo always knew he would eventually end up killing someone for Kozume Kenma, he just thought he would have a lot more time to prepare.

Or: Kenma's hungry, Kuroo's bad at thinking on his feet, and Shouyo just wants to make friends in the city.

Live From the Lonely Hearts Club♡

(Kodzuken lets out a sigh that cuts so deep, it nearly startles his cat off his lap.)

I think I’m being obvious. I probably don’t need to spell it out for you guys. It’s clear as day, isn’t it? I’m fucking in love with my best friend. And I have been for a very long time.

So it pains me to say that I think I’ve made the stupidest mistake of my entire life. Because a week ago, T asked me if I wanted him to be my fake boyfriend.

(Kodzuken drags his hands over his face.)

And I’m pretty sure I said yes.

Kenma is so stupid. When did he become so stupid? He’d always thought he was kind of smart, but maybe he’s been stupid this entire time.

five snapped heartstrings

Kenma was seven, and he was certain of one thing. He wanted Kuroo Tetsurou to be his soulmate.

it's like a summer shower

Kenma’s breath catches at the memory, and then he’s blurting out, “Do you still have it?”

“Have what?”

“…the recipe,” Kenma replies haltingly. A pause. “And maybe some pictures for how it looked all set up.”

“Kenma…” his mother says breathlessly, and he’s honestly not sure if she sounds awed or horrified. “Are you going to attempt to make it?”

It's Kuroo's and Kenma's anniversary and Kenma wants to do something different - cook him dinner. He regrets the decision pretty much immediately.

crushed little stars

When Kenma was 13, he swore to himself that he would never, ever get star tear disease.

Three years later, he met Hinata Shouyou.

A purrfect match

"Hi Uncle Tettsun!” Nozomi says without moving an inch. “There's a kitty cat under here."

[Five times Tetsurou meets a cat, and one time he meets a human instead].

The Space Between Thinking and Feeling

“She might have assumed that we were dating and I might not have corrected her, yes.”

Kenma’s eyes are caught in a frenzy. Tetsurou isn’t sure why he’s that upset about this specific part of the story. “Why?” Is all Kenma asks.

Tetsurou shrugs. “I don’t know. She invited you to the wedding. I want you to come. It just seemed easy.”

“Dating me seems easy?”

“Pretend dating.”

(OR Tetsurou doesn’t want to go to his mother’s wedding alone. Good thing he has fake-boyfriend Kenma to tag along.)

Wallpaper Heart

(OR Tetsurou's adventures in pining)

even if you're ahead for a bit, i will catch up

Kuroo first confesses when they're sticky-fingered, wide-eyed kids, and subsequently every day after that. Kenma takes a while to come around.

The Ghost Of The Future Is Awake In The Attic

Sika stags have a whole repertoire of courting behaviour that does not overlap with a human’s flirting one bit.

This, perhaps, should not come as a surprise to Tetsurou.

When the Stars Threw Down Their Spears

Kenma is a calico housecat. His coloring is uncommon, but he is not special."

Shapeshifter!AU. Kenma struggles with a culture and the rules of courtship.

Ad Astra Per Aspera

The city has long since forgotten what happened to Kuroo Tetsurou.

…But Kenma didn’t. Kenma never would.

Kenma’s soul recognizes Kuroo Tetusrou even when his eye does not.

He’s been waiting an eternity for him, after all.

route 51 to your heart has been delayed by 20 minutes

The hottest man Kenma has ever seen shares the bus with him regularly. Under no circumstance is he ever going to do anything about it.

Not intentionally, at least.

Speak Easy, Lie Gently

Kenma’s invited back home to celebrate Christmas. Unbeknownst to him, his parents had invited a guest: his ex-boyfriend.

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kats-fic-recs · 3 months

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Everything is a Competition When it's You

“Shou-chan, I feel like this is a bad idea,” Izumi said, sitting with Shouyou at the hairdresser. He was currently waiting to get the dye rinsed out of his hair. “What colors did you pick, again?”

“Hot pink and neon green,” Shouyou replied, not looking up from the magazine he was reading. He was taking a quiz to find out what kind of dog he would be. Shouyou tossed the magazine down angrily when it told him he was a Pomeranian. Shouyou hated how small and cutesy everyone made him out to be. He was fifteen, for goodness sake.

Izumi frowned. “Yeah, I’m sorry, but that sounds insane.”

“No, it’s perfect,” Shouyou replied. “Because even if my soul mate can pull off orange streaks, there’s no way he can get away with this.”

#haikyuu #haikyuu!! fic recs #haikyuu!!#hq #haikyuu fic #haikyuu fic rec #hinata shouyou #hinata shoyo #kagehina #kageyama tobio #kagehina fic #ao3 #fanfiction #fic recs #fanfiction recommendation #fic rec #haikyuu fic recs #reblog

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kats-fic-recs · 4 months

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Everything is a Competition When it's You

Izumi frowned. “Yeah, I’m sorry, but that sounds insane.”

“No, it’s perfect,” Shouyou replied. “Because even if my soul mate can pull off orange streaks, there’s no way he can get away with this.”

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kats-fic-recs · 4 months

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The Best Stranger Things Fics I read in 2022

Common Cents

Making a will at eighteen seems incredibly morbid. The lawyer stares at him long and hard the entire time. She acts like he's contagious, like she might catch her death from him or maybe he'll ruin her rug by dropping dead in her office. Steve figures she has nothing to worry about. If anything's going to kill him, it's probably going to be a monster from the Upside Down.

In which Steve hunts monsters, becomes a deputy, makes a will, and finds a family. Among other things.

darlin’ you give love (a bad name)

The first time he hears Dustin and Mike mention the name Eddie Munson he almost walks into a VHS display at work.

Steve wants to ask them how Eddie’s doing but then his face from that last party flashes into his head and he always clams up. If he was Eddie he’d want nothing to do with him and rightly so.

Instead Steve teasingly complains about how much time they spend with Eddie and that’s as far as it goes.

To Be Loved For No Reason At All

It all starts with Steve finding Eddie Munson in Alison Brown’s bathtub.

Or, how one night leads to a conversation, leads to shotgunning, leads to confessions, leads to The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Steve's just along for the ride.

sub-culture

“Is he whining about Eddie being mean to him again?” Robin is leaning in the doorway, eating a leftover slice that’s probably cold by now. “You talk about him more than you talk about girls, Steve, it’s getting concerning. Anyone would think you had a crush.”

or, steve is pretty convinced eddie now hates him. turns out eddie has the opposite problem.

get you back (by my side)

Eddie hasn't spoken to Gareth and the others since whatever went down with Chrissy Cunningham, now Gareth sees him playing basketball with Steve Harrington and a bunch of kids, what the fuck is going on?

Sinclair sighs longingly.

“Okay, man, I can get behind you on the sweet and salty,” says Gareth, “but New Coke?”

“He was crazy for it,” says Harrington, grinning all fond at the back of Sinclair’s head like he’s retelling the story of his toddler’s foray into the world of art and talking Gareth through all the monstrosities in pride of place on the fridge. “Weird kid.”

Eddie is smiling at the side of Harrington’s face and Jesus Christ, Gareth never wants to meet another gay man in his whole life if their taste is Steve fucking Harrington.

our house (in the middle of our street)

He's in the market for a house, it's not his fault the Creel Murder House is the cheapest place he can find. It's kind of the perfect house, really, Steve's got a big family.

Eddie fumbles in rolling the blunt. They’re sitting in Eddie’s room while he rolls on the tray balanced on his knees. “You’re — you’re giving me a key?”

“Yeah. I don’t know if you want to move out of here but uh… option is there if you uhm, need it?”

He stays staring at Steve, fingers paused over the tray like the ridiculous caricature of a stoner caught red handed by the cops. “For real? What about rent?”

“Yeah man, of course. I know you haven’t been sleeping great here for obvious reasons and like, a new place isn’t going to help that much but…” He shrugs. “Got more rooms than I know what to do with, so fuck rent. I’m getting keys for you and Rob next week and maybe some for the kids, I don’t know if I trust them with keys to my house.”

when you need me, call me (no matter where you are)

Steve isn't having the best time of it but he's trying to make time for his kids. Then everything goes to shit again. At least he gets a fugitive boyfriend out of it.

When it all starts happening again Steve mentally blames Tammy Thompson’s singing, probably woke Vecna up and he was all like “these people need to remember their favourite songs, because if that’s the musical talent in this town… boy are they fucked” or something along those lines. Or maybe he’s just feeling a little bit insane because he just saw Max — little Max with the red hair who scared him a little bit and saved him from Billy that one time — floating up in the sky like, like an angel. And he couldn’t do a thing but hope Max really, really likes Kate Bush.

strung through the tether

The talk explained how it all worked, why his pain was her pain and vice versa, but it didn’t answer any of the questions Robin would come to formulate in the following years.

Questions like: what makes someone your soulmate? Questions like: why do so many people get married even if they aren't soulmates? Questions like: who ever said it was a boy?

your shadow's red (like a film i've seen)

Three days after Vecna, Robin tries to kiss Steve. Tries to be something he deserves. Someone who can fuck him, be with him. Something better, a good person like she isn't. She tries to not be fucked up. Steve doesn't let her.

If only for a moment they are wild and cold, faces up to the unreflective sky, just a boy and a girl holding hands watching the stars as the wind tugs and pulls them, kindly cruel in a way that mends.

Maybe they don’t need anyone else, she thinks, maybe they can stay there until the wind strips them to their bones. She wouldn’t mind dying if it was with Steve.

He turns to her and she thinks he might kiss her but then he’s just holding her against his chest and it feels like such an impossibly mean thought to have about Steve, to even think that he might do that to her, that she starts crying. Sometimes she thinks she doesn’t deserve him and he doesn’t deserve how she thinks about him. He’s just so much good sometimes Robin thinks something must turn for the worst, surely King Steve isn’t all gone, surely at some point he’s going to reveal himself: he was making fun of her the whole time, trying to make her normal.

feel the magic (there's something that drives me wild)

Robin is drunk and not for the first time wishes she could fall in love with Steve Harrington. Wishes she was 'normal'.

It’s dumb, really dumb, that she still wants to crow to the whole of Hawkins High that she knows what Steve looks like in the morning, in his boxers, coming out of the shower. She still wants to be normal, and it stings sometimes so harshly she thinks she might cry, that she’s never going to swoon over Steve’s arms or his stupid hair.

i wanna make a supersonic man (out of you)

Lucas is the man of the group, he knows this. He's got to be the man, like Steve, and wear polos and khakis and come between evil and the weak and be a lady killer and a charming, funny, sweet guy. Like Steve who has started hanging out with Eddie Munson and getting piercings and wearing eyeliner and not being the man Lucas thought he was.

“Steve is that an earring?” says Dustin, at one of his highest pitches, slap bang in the middle of one of Eddie’s tirades.

Everyone pauses. Number one, you never interrupt Eddie, especially not during D&D. Number two, what? (Lucas has strong suspicions he can’t let Max ever find out about this, or she’s going to break-up with him and become a full-time Steve admirer.)

They all lean forwards.

Steve shifts slightly uncomfortably, but he looks amused. “Yeah.” He shrugs. And there it is, a single tiny silver hoop in his left ear. Lucas stares, amazed.

“You’re a guy,” says Lucas, without thinking about it.

Steve only laughs. “I am aware, Lucas, thank you.”

lover boy pizza

A follow-through to the idea “fuck it make em all gay” ft the addition of: no no no jonathan and argyle as a couple but they don’t know everyone else is also coupled up and they’re high as shit trying to act normal on this now-quintuple date they think is just-bro-time.

(The Real) Stranger Things Season 3

(Because after (gestures at what Netflix gave us), we really needed a rewrite.)

It's summer vacation, 1985.

After everything that's happened in the past two years, Will just wants to go back to the way things were - and the Party seems to be racing on ahead, leaving him behind as they get swept up in the new adventure of being teenagers. But when something darker threatens to reenter their lives, the Party has more to deal with than just dating and summer shenanigans.

Joyce knows that something is wrong - she can just feel it. And Hopper knows by now to trust her instinct. Together they set out to find answers - and find that not all is as they assumed.

Unappreciated and heckled at her internship at The Hawkins Post, Nancy picks up the phone to a strange call. Sensing a story, she grabs Jonathan and chases the lead.

El isn't sure who she is - or if she has the strength to defeat the evil that's rearing its head in this once-quiet town.

Dustin picks up a strange code on his ham radio.

Steve hates his Scoops uniform.

Something strange is stirring in Hawkins - something that wants to get back in.

One summer can change everything.

kiss it better

Of course Will is here. They take care of each other. It’s what they do.

or: Mike and Will, through the years and in between the lines of friendship and something more.

I Never Find Out 'Til I'm Head Over Heels

Wherein Mike believes he’s being obvious, Will doesn’t know what he believes, and the pair of them could use a lesson or two in effective communication. Somehow all of this has both nothing and everything to do with five years' worth of school dances.

The Dad Who Stepped Up

Hopper’s many attempts at bonding with his youngest unofficial stepson over the course of their first year in Hawkins.

Sometimes it goes well, other times he’s trying to see if he’s unlocked his daughter’s ability to glare someone (Michael Wheeler) to death.

i’d love to see me from your point of view

Now that Will’s sitting and Mike’s the one that’s standing, he looks impossibly tall. Tall and lanky, and huge. He should sit back down, Will thinks, lay back down next to Will and stay in their own secluded little bubble.

“I really want to kiss you,” Mike says, and Will’s eyes snap back up to his so violently he thinks he hears his own neck crack with the force of it.

“Don’t,” Will croaks, before his brain has even processed the words. “Don’t say that.”

“Okay,” Mike says easily, still staring. And what the actual fuck is going on? Is Will hallucinating? Is the weed making him hallucinate? “So sausage and pepperoni?”

Will stares dumbly at him. “Um - yeah. Yes.”

“Cool,” Mike replies and then just turns around and leaves Will sitting dumbly in his own room.

Mike and Will get high on Jonathan’s weed and Mike has an amazing idea.

you rearrange me 'til i'm sane

Will has never had a girlfriend (or a boyfriend) before. There may or may not be one person behind the reason why.

i hate accidents (except when we went from friends to this).

The first time it happens, Will classifies it as a little accident.

When he wakes, the morning sun is burning through the window onto their faces, and Mike’s cursing as he stands to close the curtains, stumbling all the way.

“Scoot over,” he grumbles, voice dry, and for a second Will can’t do anything other than sigh like a lovesick idiot. It’s a second too late for Mike, because he grumbles more words Will doesn’t catch under his breath and then physically pushes Will towards the wall to lay beside him, arm over Will’s middle. A second of silence passes, then Mike sighs, only to whine: “Fuck, my head hurts.”

Will can’t help it: he breaks down laughing, much to Mike’s offense.

---------------

Alternatively: five times Mike kissed Will, and one time Will kissed back.

all this time (how could you not know?)

Mike sighs, looking down at his hands. "I always thought I would end up with someone more similar to me, you know? Someone I can talk about, like, hobbies and music and stuff with, without them visibly losing interest halfway through.”

You have more in common with him than El, says the voice in Will’s head. He wonders, briefly, whether it would be weird to shove his face back into the pillow and scream.

Will is definitely not qualified to be giving out any relationship advice. For one, he's never actually dated anyone before. Second, one of the people in said relationship is his sister. And third, the other person is the guy he's sort of in love with. There's no possible way this could backfire. Right?

sealed with a kiss

“Dude,” Dustin says, sounding kind of horrified but also kind of delirious with elation. “Oh my God, you like him. You like Will. Will. As in, our Will. Our best friend Will.”

“I do not–” Mike tries, even though he’d kind of just admitted to accidentally kissing Will Byers, a little, so maybe that’s an entirely fruitless road to go down.

Listen. No one should ever let Mike make decisions right after he wakes up from a nap, okay? Especially not decisions where Will is concerned. This is so not his fault.

keep glowing (come back)

And despite this, he will gather the pages and leaf through them. Read the words he didn’t want to think about during the daytime because they were wrong and awful and shitty. Half-scribbled confessions and outbursts and meltdowns, memories and stray thoughts and promises that he’d nearly forgotten to keep.

Skip through them after the first few, skim the bottom of the pages in a move just like El’s, see what she always wanted to see: Love, Mike scrawled at the bottom of every page.

or: mike & will through the years

people like you find it easy (naked to see)

Will sees these people. These pink people and these blue people. He sees the way they fit together and hates the way he doesn't ever want a pink half of his soul, he wants something blue, something wrong.

Will still remembers that ice cold shock in the rain that started in his bones and reverberated outwards until the edges of him were static, fizzing and unreal, and the only thing about him that was fact, immovably and intrinsically true, that it wasn’t Mike’s fault, it wasn’t anyone’s but his own, that he didn’t like girls. The bike ride, the rain slick on his face like a membrane, his whole body burning and freezing all at the same time, still blurry at the edges, and the only thing, the only thing, he knew about himself to be true was that he liked boys, he liked boys in a way he wasn’t supposed to. He was broken, a freak like Jonathan had said, but not a freak in a good way, he was bad and rotten.

He had wanted to blame it on the Upside Down, back then. He had wanted it to be something out of his control. But he knows, knows like Lonnie knew when he was just a kid, that he has always been this way. He’s always been wrong in some unfixable, innate way that will stay with him until he dies.

home is where the heart is

“It’s a good thing,” Will reassures, and his thumb swipes over Mike’s cheek. Mike thinks he might explode. “It means you’re nice to look at. Artists would love you.”

Mike’s heart feels like it’s about to burst out of his chest. Will is still looking at him, and he swallows, throat dry. “Yeah?”

Will’s own face reddens, like he’d just thought about what he said. “Yeah,” he answers, and Mike grins.

Living in a shared apartment with Will is all Mike could ask for, except for the part where he keeps thinking about kissing Will in the middle of their kitchen.

i'll find myself in the moonlight

He looks up at him, eyebrows drawn together. “Do you not love her?"

Mike shrinks back. “What?"

He hadn’t meant to say it. He wouldn’t have, if he’d stopped to think about it for half a second. But it’s too late to take it back, and he can’t breathe until he knows the answer, and he looks at him resolutely and says, “Do you only love her because of what I said?

Something darkens on Mike’s face, twisting it into a shape Will’s never seen. “Get out.”

It’s not a no.

or: Mike and Will share a room, and Mike finds out the truth about the painting.

mike wheeler's guide to falling in love with a superhero

“Uh-huh,” Mike says faintly, and he yelps when they narrowly avoid the edge of a shining skyscraper, and his hands clutch onto Spiderman instinctively. “Oh – my fucking God, that –”

Spiderman’s fingers press a little firmly into Mike’s shirt. "Just – hang on!"

"What do you mean just hang – was that a pun," Mike sputters, clutching onto Spiderman for dear life as they swing through the city, and he can hear the superhero laugh through the racing wind in his ears, the rumble of it under Mike’s arm wrapped around his middle.

In a city of superheroes, Mike keeps running into Spiderman, much to his dismay.

On a completely different and unrelated note, Mike also attempts to woo and charm his neighbor into a date.

Heavy Hopes

Mike walks in on his roommate making out with another guy, and gets really upset about it. For all of the normal, straight reasons.

#stranger things #steve harrington #eddie munson #byler #will byers #mike wheeler #robin wheeler #steddie #stranger things fic #byler fic #steddie fic #ao3 #fanfiction #fic recs #fanfiction recommendation #fic rec #reblog

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kats-fic-recs · 4 months

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The Best Daredevil Fics I read in 2022

How to Make a Family by Matt Murdock

Step 1. Have a dad.

Step 2. Lose your dad. Be miserable. Great job, everyone. We’re doing amazing so far.

(Matt's arduous journey towards being a functional person, with many stops and starts along the way.)

Candy Land

Matt is having fun with this, at least in some way. Sucking on Life Savers and smirking, and no guilt at all. If Matt could feel guilt, none of this would be happening. Things might be okay again.

But he doesn’t, and this is what Foggy is left with: a candy-stained mouth and a creature that’s more devil than man.

And Foggy still loves him

Invisible Ink

“Hello, welcome to Josie’s, I’m Foggy, what are you looking for?”

“Uh, nothing,” the guy replies, and Foggy is nonplussed for the nanosecond it takes to put together glasses, cane, and the way Hottie McHotFace is gazing absently over his shoulder.

“Oh, oh, you’re blind, dude, sorry. But, uh, this is a tattoo parlour?”

“I know.” The guy sighs. “I lost a bet?”

Or: The One Where Foggy Is A Tattoo Artist And Matt Is The Worst

Just to Listen to Your Breath

After the events of Season 2, Matt and Foggy aren't speaking. But that doesn't mean Matt's not hanging around.

Knock Three Times (On the Ceiling If You Want Me)

Matt's downstairs neighbor sings showtunes (badly) at all hours, eats weird-smelling food, and never stops talking.

Matt falls in love long before they actually meet.

Rowan and Red Oak

Foggy meets a man with a red oak wand and a sweet smile. Over the next eight years, Foggy makes a lot of coffee, reads a lot of tea leaves, breaks a lot of rules and casts a lot of charms. He also spends a good amount of his time pining over his perfect partner and trying to keep his wild outbursts of emotional magic to a minimum.

Stupid Cupid

Foggy plays karma bingo and wins a cupid.

His cupid is possibly the worst matchmaker in the world.

Other People's Blood

Foggy finds himself reminiscing on the ten years he's known Matt Murdock - son of and assassin for the Kingpin. The things they've learned about each other and the violence they've wrought together. Something sharp, and twisted, and beautiful.

A love story written in other people's blood.

The Constellation of Touch

Months after Fisk is put away, nothing's right between the partners at Nelson and Murdock. But Christmas is here, and Matt is still expected at the Nelson house.

darling you're stars

Matt wanted only Foggy’s purple flannel and if he could not have that, then he would have nothing. He would go cold.

(Foggy tries to understand the underlying causes of Matt's bizarre relationship with clothes.)

just meant to smile

“So we agree that Matt is still an Elle, though?” Foggy said.

The current working theory among their cohort was that there were Elles, Emmetts, Vivians, and Warners and if you weren’t one of them you were an extra and you were doomed to fail.

“Yeah, no. He’s still an Elle.”

“Okay, so at the risk of sounding desperate, does this make me an Emmett yet?” Marci gave him a pitying look. She reached over and squeezed his shoulder.

“It’s gonna be okay, Vivian,” she promised. “The plot will go on once we get our internships.”

(The Legally Blonde AU that no one asked for.)

Take All The Courage

When what should have been a straight forward mission in Hell's Kitchen goes pear shaped due to lack of communication, teaching his teammates sign language seems like a logical step to Clint. Communication when their comms are down - great plan! And including the local vigilante, who's been working closely with them on this, is a real no-brainer.

Until it turns out said vigilante is an asshole that thinks sign language is beneath him, judging by the way he's stubbornly refusing to learn it.

(Conversely - Matt's trying, he really is but damn it, those two signs are exactly the same... what do you mean they mean completely different things?!)

None So Blind

They say when you assume you make an ass of you and me.

Matt wishes that the Avenger's assumptions about his seeming inability to read the written word did something as benign as making an ass of him and them. Being called illiterate shouldn't hurt, not when he knows he's not, and it's not like he can tell them the truth.

Not that the truth would make much difference. He's just going to have to grin and bear it.

If he can.

Speyeria Cybele

Matthew's not the first Murdock to tell Father Lantom he had the Devil in him. Only Jack's Devil was nothing like the one Matthew sees in himself.

Jack's Devil was magic. Literally.

(Or a history of Father Lantom's relationship with magic, the Devil and the Murdock boys)

anthropomorphism

Matthew Michael Murdock was a person who had been taken, killed or next to killed, and turned into a droid.

Foggy sobbed as quietly as he could into the toilet.

Like a Handprint on My Heart

The day Foggy’s supposed to start working at Hogarth, Chao, and Benowitz, he wakes up, walks into the bathroom, starts to take a leak, glances down to check his aim, and freezes when he sees black letters on the inside of his right elbow.

His bladder forgotten, he brings his arm up, closer to his face and horizontal, as if he couldn't tell what the word was immediately. As if he'd somehow misread it, even though it's only four letters.

Matt.

Look Around, It's You I Can't Replace

Matt handles his separation from Foggy after the breakup of Nelson and Murdock a bit less well than he anticipated. As in he doesn't really handle it at all.

What All This Time Was For

On the rare occasions he reminisces about high school Foggy kind of wonders if he isn't just filling in the worst parts of teen comedies.

Foggy goes to his high school reunion.

#daredevil #matt murdock #foggy nelson #mattfoggy #ao3 #fanfiction #fic recs #fanfiction recommendation #fic rec #daredevil fic #mattfoggy fic rec #reblog

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kats-fic-recs · 4 months

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Best Naruto Fics I read in 2022

SNS

The sun is too bright, it hurts.

The first time Sasuke sees Naruto, they are six years old. Sasuke is not stupid, he learns fast, and there are three basic things about Naruto you can know after being five seconds in the same room as him: first, he’s noisy. Second, he talks a lot. Third, he’s annoying.

Years later, Sasuke thinks the same, but Naruto is much more than that to him.

Love is Just Another Word for Understanding

Maybe it’s because Naruto doesn’t know when to quit, because he’s always there in the periphery, because he’s loud and obnoxious and pushy. Maybe it’s because Naruto is the only one who’s been able to land a hit on him in a spar for months now. Maybe it’s because Naruto is the only one who’s not afraid to make him bleed.

Regardless, Naruto is Sasuke’s rival. And as such, Sasuke watches him.

And watches.

---

In which Sasuke finds many aspects of Naruto's life objectionable, and as a result more or less abducts--I mean, adopts him.

Gaalee

All the Grain of Babylon

Sunagakure is an outpost’s outpost, the most hidden of the hidden villages. Situated deep in the bowels of the planet Kaze, aptly named for the devastating windstorms caused by its thin atmosphere, the village is mostly nomadic. Under attack, the entire village can close off its tunnel structure and relocate in less than twenty-four hours, so long as the location of the Seed Bank isn’t discovered.

With Gaara as its leader and a code of strict cultural mores, the small underground society has survived, perhaps even thrived. But their safety and stability is put at risk when a ship crashes on the surface of Kaze, a ship whose crew claim to be the last known survivors of the long-abandoned planet Earth. And what the outsiders bring with them causes Gaara to question everything he's ever known ...

not creepin', just stuck

And now here they were, squeezed into a cozy little corner booth at the real coffee shop just up the street. The one with the blackboard menu and overstuffed upholstery on the mismatched chairs and a barista who, Gaara noticed with no small amount of jealousy, was neither required to wear a nametag nor recite a pithy canned slogan before each order.

Or, the inevitable consequences of being stuck in a donut case together.

On My Way Home

There is nothing now that Gaara, the man, can do to heal the wounds caused by Gaara, the monster. He cannot bring murdered villagers back from the dead. He cannot un-traumatize the children he terrorized in his youth. He cannot even repair the desert ecosystem that he disrupted during his massive, sand-filled rages. All he can do is be a safe harbor - level, and steady, and reliable as the sunrise - for his village, for his family, and for his friends.

Return to Sender

For nearly a decade, Rock Lee and Gaara have written each other, like clockwork. Their friendship grew steadily over many years, and at some point, without realizing it Rock Lee had fallen completely and irrevocably in love with Gaara.

But when he realizes this, advice from his mentor gives him little hope of ever being able to confess.

And so he does the only thing he can think to do: he writes it all down in a letter he never intends to send.

Iruka fics because I love him

whatever you wish for, you keep

Iruka saves a young fox kit in the schoolyard, and is forced to deal with the (not so bad) consequences.

Maslow

The first four tiers of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Human Needs applied to Naruto’s depressing childhood. Alternatively: Iruka slowly becomes the best replacement mother a ninja could have.

a beating heart of stone

During Iruka's first year teaching — on his own, because apparently there is a severe lack of teachers — he loses his curriculum, gets into a low-key fight with Shimura Danzo and accidentally creates an army. To be fair, none of this was planned.

BONUS

One of the greatest Naruto rewrites of all time

from the corner of your eye

When a misunderstanding prompts Sasuke to take a deeper involvement in the growth of his teammates, no one is quite prepared for the way things... change. Especially Sasuke.

The question is - is it for the better?

#naruto #sns #gaalee #gaara x rock lee #rock lee #gaara #uchiha sasuke #sasunaru #iruka umino #uzumaki naruto #naruto uzumaki #ao3 #fanfiction #fic recs #fanfiction recommendation #fic rec #naruto fanfiction #reblog

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kats-fic-recs · 4 months

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The Best Haikyuu fics I read in 2022

Iwaoi

Lost in Translation

Because misfortune come in threes, Iwaizumi Hajime starts his Thursday having a screaming fight with Shittykawa, spends his lunch break listening to the UCI women's volleyball team gossiping about how Ushijima Wakatoshi had gone public about his longtime love affair with Oikawa Tooru, and closes out the day by drunkenly dropping his phone into a sewer grate.

just hear me out

To stimulate Japan's low birthrates and take most of the guesswork out of dating, a beeper system was biologically developed in people's wrists, an audible confirmation to show romantic compatibility.

Iwaizumi's beeper has been going off for Oikawa since they've been kids. Oikawa's has only ever been silent.

In Defense of Reptiles (and Other Gross Things)

In their seventh year, Oikawa is chosen to be the Hogwarts champion in the Triwizard Tournament, and Iwaizumi suffers.

to be first, to be best

Hajime is apparently something of a masochist, and as he stares down at the tie-dyed AREA51 T-shirt in his hands, he thinks “I’m totally in love with this asshole, aren't I?”

evergreen

It’s exhausting to realize that he still knows Oikawa. He has no idea what stores Oikawa shops at anymore, which bands he’s been listening to lately, whether he still keeps plants in his apartment and whether they’re dying without Iwaizumi around to remind him to water them. But he knows how rain tastes on Oikawa’s lips in the summer and the drumbeat baseline of Oikawa’s heart under his palm, and there are some people you never really grow out of no matter how many other things change.

“When you left,” Iwaizumi says, swallowing against a scratchy throat, “I tried hard, for a long time, not to need you. You can’t blame me for being angry that it was easier for you to leave than it was for me to let you go.”

Ten years after he rejected Iwaizumi's marriage proposal, Oikawa is back in Sendai.

no love like your love

It happens when Daniel is rushing from the food court to the CS building, juggling his phone and a water bottle and a Panda Express takeout container. His lunch date with the cute girl from French class had gone longer than it should have, and he’s too worried about being late to pay any mind to the incoming call that flashes across his screen. Beyond noting that the number is international, he thinks nothing of it, declines, and moves on.

The person calls again, though, in the middle of the lecture, and he has to scramble to silence his phone before his professor can single him out.

By the time the period is over, he has five more missed calls and a text.

From: +81-XXX-XXX-XXXX

is this daniel? iwa-chan’s roommate? call me back when you’re available!!

Sometimes a love is so bright that those outside it can't help but bear witness.

Or: Iwaizumi and Oikawa from 5 + 1 points of view through the years.

heaven is a place in my head

For Iwaizumi, it’s a relief to be able to linger in the cocoon of this intermediate summer, blanketed from the buffeting winds of adulthood and responsibility and real decisionmaking. He would love nothing more than for it to stretch out and out and out, like a bubblegum bubble that spreads itself thin around the air trapped inside it until it pops.

But Oikawa has never liked having nothing to do. He gets restless if he’s bored for too long, starts feeling like he’s running out of time or something dumb like that. So Iwaizumi is almost expecting it when Oikawa barges into his room the afternoon of a heavy summer shower, overgrown bangs dripping rainwater into his eyes, a waterlogged piece of paper crumpled in his fist and a familiar hopeful gleam in his eyes.

When Oikawa convinces Iwaizumi to spend their last summer in Japan as camp counselors, Iwaizumi is prepared for bug bites, sunburns, and rowdy children.

He’s not prepared to spend two weeks kissing his best friend in what might just be the worst thought-out summer fling in existence.

— with melting wax and loosened strings

"If Oikawa is Hajime’s home — is Japan — then this room is his shrine. And Oikawa stands in the centre of it, eyes wide and mouth agape."

Hajime is a visual artist. He's been in love with Oikawa for such a long time that his hands know every curve and bend to Oikawa's figure. But now, with thousands of kilometres and hours between them, Iwaizumi is starting to forget Oikawa's features. It's enough to send him spiralling.

Or, 'Devotion, (2020, colourised)'.

Look For Him

She laughs gently. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so heartbroken before, Hajime.”

Iwaizumi sighs and prods at the mackerel with a chopstick. “Sorry. I can’t help it. It’s just different, you know? Like Oikawa pissed me off so much that now he’s not here I don’t know what to do with myself.”

“But you weren’t always annoyed with him, were you?” his grandmother smiles serenely and takes a sip of her tea. “My, my, Hajime, old women see everything. I saw you out there with my finches, when you were kissing Tooru’s nose. Your mother and father used to do the very same thing, you know, when they were younger. And look how long they’ve lasted. I hope you and Tooru last, Hajime. He’s very good for you.”

Oikawa has kissed Iwaizumi more times than either of them can count; it’s a constant thing, their lips never really leaving the other’s skin. There are, however, times when they’ve kissed that are burned into their memories. Eight of them, to be precise.

Cup of sugar

After about a month of his time in Irvine, the first package arrives. It’s standing there, on the table, big and heavy and exuding a familiarity that nearly brings tears to Hajime’s eyes.

“That’s really sweet,” Kevin says, eyeing Hajime’s valiant attempts to cut into the cardboard with a knife, “from your family?”

“My boyfriend,” Hajime clarifies, eyes not even straying to the return address. “That idiot’s the only one who would send me something after one month of being apart.”

Tooru and Hajime go long-distance, and Hajime contemplates whether he's accidentally become a sugar baby.

iwaizumi hajime has a ring

Iwaizumi Hajime has a ring on his finger.

A simple gold band with modest silver trimming resting snuggly on the fourth finger of his left hand.

Hajime is only 23 years old, is only in the midst of the second year of his post-graduate degree, and to Charlie’s apparently outdated knowledge, has been single at the very least since his move to America a little over a year ago.

Imagine his surprise when the dude came waltzing back after a month-long break, with a wedding ring on his finger, legally wed, and not speaking a word about it.

In which Hajime gets married and his friends in California have no idea who the lucky woman is.

KuroKen

And if you leave, will you promise you'll find your way back to me?

“Then it’s settled,” Kuroo says. “I’m going to call you every day, until you get sick of me.”

I could never get sick of you, Kenma thinks but doesn’t say. I think it’s going to be the other way around.

Or: the one where Kuroo goes to university and Kenma tries to deal with missing him, perhaps more than one should miss their best friend.

Show A Little Faith

“Why are you sending me a singing Valentine telegram?" Kenma asks, mouth flattened. "It’s six months until Valentine’s Day.”

“I bought a dwarf over the summer to use as cupid.” Kuroo says. “I figured he could use some practice.”

Presenting Kenma as the Boy-Who-Lived, whose living becomes a lot more interesting when Ravenclaw Prince Kuroo Tetsurou starts sending him singing telegrams about defeating the Dark Lord.

you're the brake lines failing (as my car swerves off the freeway)

Kenma thinks that Kuroo looks ugly with his head bent against the arm of the couch like that. Then Kenma thinks that he wants to marry him, and is promptly thrown into the 5 stages of grief.

the book of love is long and boring

“Since when did you become the all-knowing authority on love,” Kuroo teases as he rests his chin on Kenma’s bed, and Kenma bristles before a frown mars his face.

Because it’s not like Kuroo’s wrong.

Kenma's never really thought much about love, until an assignment from class forces him to. And then suddenly, it's the only thing that's on his mind.

teach me the way home

Don’t go far off, not even for a day, because —

because — I don’t know how to say it: a day is long

and I will be waiting for you, as in an empty station

when the trains are parked off somewhere else, asleep.

Kuroo and Kenma grow up in transit.

My Nameless World (I’ll Let You In)

It’s a modest two-bedroom in the western suburbs, far enough from the bustling crowds to be affordable but still counting, technically, as Tokyo. They’re noisy before they sleep but quiet when they rise, shuffling mutedly out of the door for joint morning runs before bursting back into the apartment for joint morning showers. Shouyou cooks breakfast while Kageyama packs their lunch and gym bags, and they never share a goodbye kiss because they always leave together.

It’s warm and cozy and disgustingly domestic, and it’s probably everything Shouyou’s ever dreamed of.

Except, Kenma thinks irately, Kageyama doesn’t actually live here.

===

Shouyou moves in with Kenma when he ends up in Tokyo for college. Kenma subsequently realizes that half the things in Shouyou’s boxes are actually Kageyama’s because he should have fucking known.

Kagehina

well, maybe i'm a crook

The thing is-- Hinata is in love with Kageyama and everyone knows it, including Kageyama.

by this time next year

"I got offers from two universities," Kageyama announces, pointing at his chest with his thumb. "I'm going to play volleyball at Keio this spring."

"You still have to pass an exam, even if it's an easy one," Takeda-sensei hurries to add, although he is beaming and bursting with pride at his fluffy little crow chick taking off to play volleyball at a university level.

"I'll pass," Kageyama says with the same kind of confidence he uses when he tells Hinata he'll get the toss to him. He looks straight at Hinata, and Hinata jerks and turns red, wondering if maybe Kageyama knew he was daydreaming about something as stupid as the way Kageyama talks to him during a game. But then Kageyama just points at him and says, "You'd better get in, too."

Hinata, stupid, naive, idiot that he is, grins wide and nods and says, "Yeah!"

He doesn't know what he's in for.

Bokuaka

daisy rings and frivolous things (i am deliriously in love with you)

Akaashi Keiji is in love. Bokuto Koutarou is a star. Everyone on Fukurodani has a gambling problem.

paper rings

Akaashi Keiji knows his relationship with Bokuto Koutarou has an expiration date. It was inevitable. Even the best things must end. Especially with Bokuto's dreams of volleyball stardom on the line, they don't have any other choice. Akaashi has made his peace with that.

Bokuto has other ideas.

surfacing

Keiji’s boyfriend has been cheating on him. During their public confrontation, he ends up walking out with the other man - Bokuto Koutarou. They strike up an unlikely friendship born from the bond of heartbreak, and, eventually, help one another to heal parts of themselves they perhaps hadn't even known were broken.

Alternatively: Bokuto tries to set Akaashi up with a rebound to make up for being “the other man.” It both does and does not go according to plan.

notice me kouhai

This was definitely, somehow, Bokuto's fault.

the strange music of your heart

"Hey," Konoha says, tone hushed, one day after practice when he and Bokuto end up staying behind together. "Akaashi likes you, you know?"

Bokuto is in the process of putting on a clean shirt. "Of course he does," he says, voice too close to his ears under the fabric. "We're friends!" He pulls the shirt down, freeing his head. "What," he says, suddenly self-conscious, "does someone not like me?"

in which akaashi falls for bokuto first.

Miscellaneous

Experimental Probability

Atsumu stares blankly back at him. "So, let me get this straight. Ya want me to kiss ya so you can tell whether or not yer in love with my brother?"

Rin winces at his word choice. "Not exactly how I would have phrased it, but yeah, pretty much."

Or: Suna Rintarou is not in love with his best friend. Scientific evidence would suggest otherwise.

Close to the Chest

It takes Yahaba thirteen years to realize he's different from the other kids, one to figure out how to hide it, and two more to learn to be happy just the way he is. Yahaba's journey ft. an extremely annoyed Kyoutani, best friend in the world Watari, and loads and loads of good senpai Oikawa.

seam-ripper

Asahi’s life is prone to falling apart at the very seams, something he has been aware of since his unfortunate birth approximately sixteen long, hard years ago. Due to the infallible accuracy of this fact, Asahi begins his second year of high school by getting involved in his very first physical altercation; he is subsequently subjected to what might be considered the most embarrassing social situation of the decade. And to top it all off with the perfect catastrophe cherry on the disaster sundae that is Asahi’s miserable existence, Suga is laughing at him.

Or, the story of Asahi and Nishinoya’s near-disastrous get-together.

hair smell

“Actually,” Takahiro starts, uncharacteristically serious. “You… Your hair smells nice.”

“My hair?” Issei blinks.

Takahiro nods. “Yeah.” He reaches a hand up, but doesn’t run his fingers through the curls—instead, he pushes them in at his scalp and scratches. He’s clearly very careful not to ruin the frizzy tangles on Issei’s head that are only achievable by means of product, air drying, and then sleeping-but-not-really on rough cotton pillowcases. The gesture is personal; it worms its way into Issei’s heart and takes root there, squeezing tight, pulsing in time with each of his heartbeats.

“I don’t know what it is,” Takahiro confesses. His face is still serious, but the line of his brow is definitely easing. “Your product? Conditioner?”

Issei shrugs. He didn’t even know about his hair smell until just now.

“But, anyway,” Takahiro continues, and he maintains steady eye contact, although his voice is suddenly small. “Sometimes I’ll smell it on someone else, and it makes me think of you.”

“Oh,” Issei says.

the inherent romance of classical conditioning (or, the fine art of emotional recognition)

It's stupid. Atsumu isn't a romantic, no matter how many times he's imagined laying Sakusa out and finally really touching him.

So there's no explanation for why Atsumu is constantly stuck thinking about brushing his fingertips against the meat of Sakusa's palms or the prominent tendons in his freaky wrists.

There's no explanation for why doing dishes sets off a warm burn in his ribcage, or why when he smells disinfectant he inhales like he's walking past a bakery.

Yer doin' this to me, he thinks furiously, as Sakusa derails his thoughts with kisses that come more and more frequently now. Yer conditionin' me, and I can't stop it.

Tending to a Wounded Heart

“Now, Iwaizumi-san, while I am flattered by your interest and must admit you’re very attractive, I must inform you my heart belongs to another, and I’m not sure your dear captain Oikaw-“ Satori wasn’t even able to finish his jest, as a fuming Iwaizumi interrupted him. A blush blooming from his hairline down to his neck.

“I’M NOT HITTING ON YOU, DUMBASS!”

...

After being discovered in the midst of breakdown in the bathroom of Seijoh, Tendou Satori strikes up an unusual friendship with Iwaizumi who seems keen on helping Tendou navigate his own unrequited feelings, despite ignoring his own.

All the while Tendou's teammates are becoming more and more concerned with their blocker's new behavior and mysterious texting buddy.

No more time to waste

Tsukishima Kei has a theory: crushes were originally conceived as a cosmic torture device. Now, he doesn’t exactly have a broad sample size to study, being completely unwilling to engage with either Hinata or Kuroo’s pining for their resolutely-stoic best friends, but it’s true from his experience. He has it worse than them, at any rate. His best friend is the furthest thing imaginable from stoic.

Tsukishima suffers through training camp in a heatwave. His infuriatingly attractive best friend does absolutely nothing to help.

my heart beats for contract law

"You had an emotional breakdown in a McDonalds drive-through."

"Mmm."

"And proposed to me."

"Shhh."

"In a McDonalds drive-through, Hiro."

Takahiro huffs out a nervous laugh, keeping his eyes closed. "You love it," he repeats, nuzzling closer.

Mint and Pine

Yahaba yanks at Kyoutani’s uniform in the club room and ties his tie so tight after morning practice that sometimes Kyoutani thinks he’s trying to fucking strangle him.

don't bother checking my work (i've never cared for math anyway)

It isn’t until Shirabu’s back at LOCCENT that it really sinks in. Forty-eight wins? An impressive number, true, and a definite sign of Ushijima’s strength, especially compared to Tendou. But in anyone else, an unbalanced score like that would indicate a depressingly low chance of drift compatibility.

Drifting with Ushijima was simple statistically, but potentially deadly realistically. And drifting with Tendou? A veritable nightmare. If not for Washijou’s insistence, Shirabu would have dropped him long ago.

Still, something is calling to him. Something beyond numbers and data projections.

Because Ushijima may have knocked Tendou down forty-eight times. But that means there were forty-nine times he got back up.

Overflow

He laid his palm flat over Asahi’s jaw, almost shivering when the sparks fluttered up his arm and settled in his chest. His thumb came to rest in the little dip below Asahi’s lower lip, the skin there quivering with the tremble of Asahi’s mouth.

Glancing away from where he’d been intently watching the path of his fingers, Yuu found Asahi’s eyes wide open, with terror or awe it was hard to tell. And it hit him then what he’d just been doing.

Well, not really hit him. It sank into him, slow and staticky and warm and anxious—the realization that he’d never touched anybody like this before.

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kats-fic-recs · 4 months

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Best Bnha fics I read in 2022

per my last email

In America, Izuku is assigned a pen pal from Japan. Bakugou-san threatens him daily and curses all too often, but he answers Izuku’s questions and shows interest in his dreams. Oceans away in Musutafu, Katsuki enrolls in the mandatory English language course. His pen pal is a pain in his ass and asks way too many fucking questions.

They're supposed to be learning a new language. Instead, they discover why crushing on someone across the globe is not the best idea.

sunshine

“I see,” Ashido claps her hands together, “aww, you ran into a danger zone with no hesitation to save your childhood friend from the clutches of a villain! That’s so sweet!”

If only it was that simple . “I guess,” Izuku shrugs, “it’s complicated.”

“Tell me,” Ashido says, “sometimes talking to a neutral party about your problems is helpful! I can give you advice for whatever your situation is with this Kacchan .”

----------

or, izuku meets mina ashido when they're in middle school. and with a little push from a new friend, he gets kacchan back, too.

my heart's already been sold

“'At aw you ding?”

“That’s not Japanese,” Kacchan says, pushing his hands in further. “You sound like a fish.”

Bakugou keeps squishing Izuku's cheeks and walking away with zero explanation. Izuku is so, so gone for him.

The Distance Between Suns

What happens when a war tears you apart and then brings you back together?

Bakugo Katsuki and Midoriya Izuku spent years wondering if they would ever see each other again. Izuku, a prisoner in the walls of Court learning to navigate the trials of political warfare, and Katsuki, a forgotten child soldier whose enemies are not what they seem.

Years on opposite sides of the world changed them into what they needed to be to survive, but if there was one thing they never let themselves forget, it was the other. When the collapse of the ruling monarchy brings them colliding back together, will they be able to survive in the rapidly changing world around them and do what they need to save it?

Will they be able to survive each other?

Forget-Me-Not

"Do you remember what he we do every morning?” Hizashi placed his hand on top of his husband’s.

“I’m Aizawa Shouta. I’m a pro hero and teacher. I’m married and have two children. Hitoshi is in my class, training to become a hero, and we rescued Eri from Overhaul. She is still learning to control her quirk. I am working on a case about the League of Villains.”

Today wasn’t a good day, then.

“That’s really good, Shouta. But that was almost 30 years ago.”

Or, taking care of a husband with a slowly worsening memory loss, you’d have good days and bad days. For Hizashi, anniversaries were one of the hardest.

(may the bridges i have burned) light my way back home

Since Bakugou Katsuki discovered the secret of One for All, he and Midoriya Izuku have been slowly repairing the friendship they once had. They still haven’t talked about it—but Izuku’s certain that it’s only a matter of time before they manage to lay the past to rest.

But when the League of Villains attack the Sports Festival and Bakugou takes a devastating blow meant for Izuku, the whole nation is suddenly paying attention to a relationship the two people involved barely understand. Izuku needs more than ever to figure out who he and Kacchan are to each other—preferably before the internet does.

or,

“Fuck you,” Bakugou said. “I don’t need a whole face to kick your ass.”

the chaser and the chase

“This is a love story, Midoriya,”

“No, it's not. It’s crime/mystery,”

Or the one wherein Izuku writes the best selling book of the year and confesses to Katsuki at the same time.

you left a sour aftertaste

Izuku and Katsuki aren't together anymore. To take up his time, Izuku joins his school's band club, becomes the lead singer, makes some impulsive decisions, and accidentally gets a little famous. All because he's downright heartbroken, and Katsuki isn't (or at least, he doesn't look it).

Maybe some people were just meant to find their way back to each other. It might take a few stumbles, though.

don't be a stranger

“Not even a thank you for your friendly neighborhood Spiderman?” Izuku called out teasingly. “Where are you going?”

“Why the fuck do you wanna know, creep?”

“You sure you can make it back home safe?”

Katsuki glanced back angrily and flipped him the bird. “Eat shit, bugboy.”

Bugboy. That was new.

In which Izuku is Spiderman, Katsuki is nosy, and juggling high school and vigilante work has never been so difficult when your best friend is convinced that something’s up.

Or, five times Katsuki almost finds out that Izuku is Spiderman. One time he actually does.

Editor Denki & the No Good Mary Sue

Bakugou has a VERY original character that he's been writing about for a while. Just a hot-tempered prohero who's absolutely unstoppable, extremely cool, and a badass quirk that bears a striking resemblance to his own.

Unfortunately, according to poor Kaminari Denki, the guy's romance seems pretty half-baked. Which is crazy, because Bakugou didn't write a romance! He just included his stupid childhood friend in a few- okay, a lot- of the scenes, and Denki somehow got the wrong idea. Of course, Bakugou refuses to take an insult lying down, and sets about figuring out how to make Deku a compelling character for a beautiful romance- and accidentally learns some things about himself in the process.

with excerpts from Bakugou Katsuki's self-insert fan novel in all their glory.

Bare Your Soul In Ink

Writing isn't something you need a quirk for either. For all of human history, people have been telling stories. Weaving words together to form new things is built into our DNA on a level so much deeper than quirks are.

Writing could even help me escape from my life. I could hide behind a pen name, and then no one would have to know that the book in their hands was written by someone quirkless.

Yet here I am, writing about… the fact that I am quirkless.

When Izuku suddenly finds himself famous for writing a book about his life as a quirkless person, it leads to a reunion he never would have expected.

Me Myself and My Wingman

Katsuki’s wings were as magnificent as his quirk, and when they worked in tandem, it was nothing short of breath-taking. Katsuki cut through the air like a lash of fire, his blasts propelling him as his wings fanned out with the same ferocity of an avenging angel.

Izuku is in love with him, and doesn’t plan on doing anything about it.

(Unfortunately, his wings are quite determined to woo Katsuki by themselves.)

A Love Song from the Deep

His pod has always feared the Dragons, the alien clan that dwelled among volcanic vents of the deep, and with good reason. No one has seen one in generations, but Izuku heard stories of blind, listless things that drifted along the sea floor like ghosts.

Wherein Izuku is a curious merman, and his new friend is very fascinating.

How to Train Your Useless Dragon

Bakugou Katsuki needs to kill a dragon to take its teeth and become a warrior of his tribe.

But, what? Why the fuck doesn't this dragon have teeth?

Written from the promp "What if Izuku was the dragon?"

Shamelessly How to Train Your Dragon inspired.

if you talk enough sense then you'll lose your mind

There's very few people that a daemon will seek touch from outside of their holder or other daemons. Best friends, even if Izuku wanted to believe that he'd ever sincerely been that for Kacchan, are rarely one of the exceptions.

By when Izuku's life has come crashing down —by when he's left with the option of staying still until he turns to dust or walk walk walk on the shards until he bleeds—, he already knows his relationship with Kacchan has always been an anomaly.

It's only later that he discovers that what's really extraordinary is Adara.

Bright Stars

There had been rumors of a Human who wasn’t performing well in fighting rings, constantly ignoring their lesser opponents and trying to go after the very loud, very violent crowd instead.

Not only did Hizashi allow himself to be caught by the alien trafficking ring he and Shouta were trying to bring down, he's also stuck in a cell with a Deathworlder.

It goes better than expected.

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kats-fic-recs · 4 months

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The Best Batman fics I've read in 2022

As the end of the year comes closer, I've decided to make an Ao3 Wrapped for myself out of the best fics from every fandom I've read this year.

Here we go.....

The Best Batman fics I've read in 2022

Multi Media Marketing Mistakes

Gotham Gazette @gothamgazette

What did Oliver Queen and Bruce Wayne get up to in boarding school?! gothamgazette.com/baidguh24h

Oliver Queen @queenofficial

no comment

Bruce Wayne @brucewayne

@queenofficial you know that commenting ‘no comment’ on a tweet kind of defeats the point

Oliver Queen @queenofficial

@brucewayne shut up im not talking to you anymore

Bruce Wayne @brucewayne

@queenofficial then stop texting me

games without frontiers

“Pennyworth.”

When he turned, Damian was hesitating at the doorway. His face was white.

He recalled Thomas and Martha’s well-intentioned consolations and chidings -- little snippets of it’s just a bat and it won’t hurt you intermixed with please, just go to sleep, Bruce, I’ve checked all the windows, it’s silly--- and discarded them with a pang.

They hadn’t helped Bruce, after all.

“If the creature is so dangerous,” Alfred said neutrally, surfacing from the memory. “We’ll need to get it out of the house. For the safety of the others.”

“...For safety. Yes,” Damian said. When he turned around, the paleness in the boy’s face had faded. He seemed burgeoned by the impending responsibility. “I will assist you, of course.”

the politics of dancing

After months of silence following his mysterious resurrection from the dead, the prodigal Wayne heir shows up at an unlikely meeting.

“Where is Mr. Wayne?”

Jason crossed his legs, cracking his neck. “He’s not coming.”

“I was assured Mr. Wayne would be here.”

“Tough. Looks like you’ll have to settle for me, huh?”

Comes In Threes

Felicity Smoak has a bad track record with billionaires.

Scrub-A-Dub

Talon's new master has put him in water, and Talon does not know why. This new master, though...Talon thinks he might like this new master.

Frightening, But Not Afraid

When the family is hit by a new strain of fear toxin, safety is in numbers. Unfortunately, three members of the flock are still out there, afraid and alone. Bruce may not be the best at comforting his children, but apparently, he can let his wings do the talking.

((aka, the classic fear toxin hurt/comfort but with a splash of the classic wings-make-u-feel-safe hurt/comfort))

Reclaiming Innocence

Jason Todd was kidnapped at nine-years-old and given two options. Work for his keep, or be forced to to work for his keep.

His life was not pleasant, but Jason was nothing if not a fighter, and dammit if was he going to let the hell around him kill who he was as a person. Or his dreams of growing up and going to college.

Those dreams suddenly came a little more into focus, when his idiot of a pimp accidentally tried to rent him to Bruce Wayne. Poor bastard could have never guessed he was the Batman himself. Heck, not even Jason figured that out, at first. And Batman had practically adopted him.

What would you do, if it all came back to you?

"Still standing, Jason clicked on the folder and opened the first video – Jesus, there were quite a few – and suddenly Bruce was staring at him. He moved the mouse, thinking the video had frozen, but no, Bruce really did spend the first few seconds just staring. (...)

“I… I found the book in your bedside table. “The Picture of Dorian Gray.”” He paused, looked away, then back at the camera. “You were always reading. I can’t remember the last time I just read a book for fun.”"

The Jason Project

Jason had just wanted to see his autopsy report, he had only wanted to know what information Bruce had about his death. And when Bruce hadn't given it to him, he had stolen it. He hadn’t meant to stumble upon the bucket list of a dead child and the footage of a grieving father crossing one item after another off the list.

bad people don't live in our house

Bruce stirred when the bed beside him dipped, and the sheets across his chest were yanked hard.

“What,” Bruce said roughly. A small hand smacked against his face.

“Shh,” said a little voice. The sheets pulled again. “Go back to sleep.”

More Precious Than Gold

Most dragons sleep on their hoards.

Bruce's hoard sleeps on him.

Or: Bruce is a dragon. Predictably, he hoards orphans.

Gifts From the Sea

Bruce, aimless after abandoning his plans to become a special education teacher, takes an internship at Amnesty Bay Aquatic Zoo. His life changes forever when he meets the zoo's orphaned merboy. (AU where the Batkids are merpeople and Bruce is their human adoptive dad.)

I Was Lost For You to Find

Bruce never planned on having kids. After watching his parents die, the idea of starting a family of his own was foolishness at best and an impending disaster at worst. Never in his wildest dreams did Bruce think he'd ever be up to the task of raising a child, and he was okay with that. But when an orphaned acrobat starts weighing on his mind, Bruce makes the (questionable) decision to become a foster father. Everything after that is just dumb luck.

Yesterday's Voices

While trying to take down a drug cartel that deals with memory altering drugs, things go awry, and Batman wakes up with no recollection of the last five years.

As a result, his family must now race against time to find the antidote, while also having to deal with a Bruce who still thinks Jason is Robin. A Bruce who doesn't recognise most of them. A Bruce far less jaded and cynical than the one they're used to. A Bruce who still cares.

Take Care of Business

Summary: Bruce has a conference call with Wayne Enterprises. Having it at the Manor was, in hindsight, a really shitty idea.

“I don’t have your phone!”

The two boys began trading hits, yelling at the top of their lungs. Bruce turned back to the webcam just as Damian leapt on top of Tim’s back, a high-pitched battle cry torn from his lips.

“Mr. Hodges,” he said cheerfully, unflinching as Tim threw Damian into the wet bar sink. “Have you had a chance to examine the chart I pointed out?”

Brother Wanted

Well-behaved boy (10) is looking for big brother (11-15). Must meet up with me three times a week, for at least two hours each. Overall duties include helping me with homework, playing videogames with me, and showing me how to play catch. 10$ per hour.

Tim, lonely and in desperate need of company, decides that if his parents are not going to give him a sibling, he's going to hire one instead. Luckily, Jason Todd-Wayne shows up in the nick of time.

and i'll be two steps on the water

Studying his profile as she pours, the name clicks in her head like she knew it would. Even downturned, that face is unmistakable, and the realization thunders lightly in her mind.

Bruce Wayne.

All the Cups Got Broke

The police officers of metro Detroit had seen a lot of weird over the years, between the violence of the day-to-day, the year with all the freaky clown sightings, and that time with the tiger at the auto plant.

Their newest transfer - pretty-faced, former circus kid, son of a billionaire - might have been the weirdest, though.

his name was king

Everyone knows who the butler is.

The Bachelor: Robin Edition

Gotham loses its Robin and Bruce Wayne loses a son. Tim finds one of these too tragic to bear. In his quest to make sure Bruce Wayne lives to see the next year, he strikes upon the perfect solution: another son.

His best bet is, naturally, Crime Alley.

By 8 pm that day, Drake Manor is filled with ten black-haired, blue-eyed boys sitting around the large dining table, looking around the room suspiciously.

Well. Eleven. But Tim doesn’t think he counts.

Empty Graves

Swimming with the Fishes

The Bat rules Gotham with an iron fist. People do not come out of his Manor. They say he has a monster lurking within the building’s walls.

Jason is brought to the Manor as gift to earn the Bat’s favour.

*****

Mob Boss + Mers -> the combination you didn’t know you needed.

How to Train Your Mers

The tank lurched again and he silently begged for any sea god to please let him out of the dizzying, pitch-black hell. His body ached from getting beaten into the box’s side. The water was stale and disgusting in his gills. There wasn’t any light and he couldn’t see anything.

He was so full of fear he was beginning to get numb to it.

He didn’t know what these humans wanted with him, but he knew it couldn’t be good if they started by shoving him into this too-small box and tossing him around like a boat on an angry sea.

-----

Clark is an aquatic mammals trainer at the Metropolis Aquarium and Bruce is their very unruly new resident. Clark doesn't realise that Bruce is only the first of many mers that are going to live in the Aquarium.

Loading and Aspect Ratio

So, it didn’t start out like this.

Alfred would scoff at the statement, about how Bruce was trying to justify the whole situation to himself. It had started out as a simple design, black everything with black outlines and black hood. It got a little more intense as the world went on, got wind of his ghost on the streets, and became scared of The Bat . So Bruce got a little more creative with it, Alfred and him had a good laugh over the name, the scare, and Alfred had a vicious streak of humor that he had passed onto his ward-

So now the suit had a visible bat-theme, an insignia to drape in the shadows and to paint across the streets of Gotham.

It only took a year into the whole charade of heroism for Bruce to overhear a conversation between some goons- some low level thug hired by the Riddler this week- about nothing at all pertaining to what the hell the Riddler was doing in the sewers but instead:

“ The Batman can fly, you know, I’ve seen his wings.”

A world where nobody has wings, but people think they do, and that changes everything.

Bonus Superman fics:

Time travelers who plan to kill Superman never account for Martha Kent in their plans. She may not be the World's Finest, but she's a mother with a shotgun, and all told that might be scarier.

darling, so it goes

Clark shows up still wearing his suit—the sixth and final attempt—holding tight onto a little girl’s hand and looking terrified. The same symbol from his ship is displayed onto her odd looking clothes. Martha takes one look at the pair of ‘em and then goes to see if they’ve got any lemonade in the house

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